A spokesman for COGAT, Shimon Freedman, said it was the UN’s fault that its cargos stacked up on the Gaza side of Kerem Shalom. He said the agencies have “fundamental logistical problems that they have not fixed,” especially a lack of trucks.

The UN denies such allegations. It says the fighting between Israel and Hamas often makes it too dangerous for UN trucks inside Gaza to travel to Kerem Shalom, which is right next to Israel’s border.

It also says the pace of deliveries has been slowed because the Israeli military must authorise drivers to travel to the site, a system Israel says was designed for the drivers’ safety. Due to a lack of security, aid trucks in some cases have also been looted by crowds as they moved along Gaza’s roads.

The new arrangement aims to reduce the need for co-ordinating deliveries by providing an 11-hour uninterrupted window each day for trucks to move in and out of the crossing.

Deadliest attack on IDF in months

The announcement comes after an explosion in southern Gaza killed eight Israeli soldiers, making it the deadliest attack on Israeli forces in months.

The explosion took place in Rafah, a southern city that Israel has identified as Hamas’ last major stronghold. It sent in ground troops to the city in early May and has given no indication when the operation will end.

“They knew they might have to sacrifice their lives, but they did it so we could live in this country. I salute them and hug their families,” said Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz in a post on X.

The military said the explosion happened on Saturday just after 5am (10pm AEST) in the Tal al-Sultan area of Rafah. Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, an Israeli military spokesman, said it was caused either by an explosive placed by Hamas or by an anti-tank missile.

“We need to defeat the Rafah Brigade of Hamas and we are doing this with determination,” he said.

In January, 21 Israeli troops were killed in a single attack by Palestinian militants in Gaza.

Israel launched an air and ground invasion of Gaza in response to an October 7 cross-border attack by Hamas and other militants that killed some 1200 people and took 250 others hostage. The Israeli offensive has killed more than 37,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials. It also has unleashed a humanitarian disaster in Gaza, where over 80 per cent of the population has been displaced and Israeli restrictions and ongoing fighting have hindered efforts to bring in humanitarian aid, fuelling widespread hunger.

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US President Joe Biden earlier this month unveiled a new ceasefire proposal that seeks the release of the roughly 120 hostages who remain in Gaza and an end to the fighting. While the international community has broadly embraced the plan, both Israel and Hamas have expressed misgivings. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he will not halt the war until he achieves the twin goals of destroying Hamas’ military and governing capabilities.

“Today we paid another heartbreaking price in our just war for the defence of the homeland,” Netanyahu said. “With deep sorrow, in heavy mourning, I bow my head together with all the citizens of Israel and mourn the fall of our heroic warriors.”

The inconclusive war has divided the Israeli public, with tens of thousands of people taking to the streets each Saturday night to call on the government to reach a deal that would bring the hostages home. The Israeli government has already pronounced more than 40 of the hostages held by Hamas to be dead, and officials fear that number could grow the longer they remain in captivity.

Speaking at the weekly gathering of relatives of hostages in Tel Aviv, Rotem Kalderon, son of hostage Ofer Kalderon, said he isn’t ready “to live in a world full of death”.

“I am not ready to live in a country with a government that sends us to settle in the borders and fight in wars and in the end abandons us,” he said. “I’m not ready to live without a father.”

Months of ceasefire negotiations have failed to find common ground between Israeli and Hamas. On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Hamas proposed changes to a US-backed plan, some of which he said were “workable” and some not.

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Hamas has continually called for a permanent ceasefire and complete Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza as part of any deal that would see the hostages released. While the proposal announced by US President Joe Biden includes these two provisions, Hamas has expressed concern about whether Israel will commit to them.

AP

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